1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to a retaining rings, and in particular to a retaining ring for power driven sockets.
2. Brief Statement Of The Prior Art
For many years, power driven sockets have been secured to the shaft end of a power drive by inserting a steel pin into aligned bores of the socket and the drive shaft. The sockets commonly have a peripheral groove intersecting the aligned bores and a rubber O-ring has been seated in this groove to prevent the accidental dislodgement of the steel pin from the aligned bores.
Since the steel pin and O-ring are separate elements, workmen have assembled the tools without both elements, and have risked injury when the steel pin has been dislodged during use of the tool. Also, the steel pins have jammed in the receiving bores and difficulty has been experienced in extracting these pins.
An attempt has been made to improve this fastening of the sockets to the driver shaft. One example is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,304,038 in which a short steel pin was provided with a flat head that was embedded within the rubber O-ring. This fastener has never been successfully marketed, and one apparent difficulty is that the mass of the pin, which is substantial, is off-center and can create an imbalance in the tool and socket. Addiitonally, the pin head is received in a recess of the rubber O-ring and is not molded or positively bonded to the O-ring.
I have recently marketed a fastener having an integrally molded pin which projects from the retainer ring. This retainer ring is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,453.